Pandia (moon)

Pandia

Precovery image of Pandia taken by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in February 2003
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered by	Scott S. Sheppard
Discovery site	Cerro Tololo Obs.
Discovery date	23 March 2017
Designations
Designation	Jupiter LXV
Pronunciation	/pænˈdaɪə/[3]
Named after	Πανδία Pandīa
Alternative names	S/2017 J 4
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 1 January 2000 (JD 2451545.0)
Satellite of	Jupiter
Group	Himalia group
Proper orbital elements[4]
Proper semi-major axis	11,481,000 km (0.07675 AU) AU
Proper eccentricity	0.179
Proper inclination	29.0° (to ecliptic)
Proper mean motion	521.969928 deg / yr
Proper orbital period	0.68969 yr (251.911 d)
Precession of perihelion	9201.409 arcsec / yr
Precession of the ascending node	4451.925 arcsec / yr
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	≈3 km[5]
Albedo	0.04 (assumed)[5]
Apparent magnitude	23.0[5]
Absolute magnitude (H)	16.2[1]

Pandia /pænˈdaɪə/, also designated Jupiter LXV, is a small outer natural satellite of Jupiter discovered by Scott S. Sheppard on 11 May 2018, using the 4.0-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Observatory, Chile. It was announced alongside nine other Jovian moons on 17 July 2018 and it provisionally designated S/2017 J 4 by the Minor Planet Center, after observations were collected over a long enough time span to confirm the satellite's orbit.^[1] The satellite has been found in precovery observations as early as 2003.^{[citation needed]}

Pandia is part of the Himalia group, a tight cluster of prograde irregular moons of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia at semi-major axes between 11–12 million km (6.8–7.5 million mi) and inclinations between 26–31°.^[5] With an estimated diameter of 3 km (1.9 mi) for an absolute magnitude of 16.2, it is one of the smallest known members of the Himalia group.^[5]